The city of Alachua held its 19^th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration on Monday, turning the lawn of the Cleather Hathcock Community Center into a concert and banquet hall.  

Adrian Peterson, Alachua’s own college football hall-of-famer and former running back for the Chicago Bears, highlighted the event, traveling from Georgia to be the keynote speaker at his hometown’s celebration. 

Carol Richardson, Alachua’s chair of recreation and culture, said the event is unique because it is hosted by the city, instead of a community organization. The celebration featured musical performances from Frantz Emmanuel and 1000 Voices of Florida, plus lively dance performances by Smooth Flava Dance and the Mebane Middle School cheer team. 

Peterson went on to play at Georgia Southern University from 1998 to 2001, setting the all-time division I football rushing record with 6,559 yards and leading the Eagles to back-to-back national titles. He was later was later inducted into the university’s hall of fame, then into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

Peterson was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 2002 draft and played eight seasons before moving on to the UFL to play for the Virginia Destroyers.  

“Everything I do, I think about Alachua, Florida,” said Peterson, who now works as Georgia Southern’s director of student-athlete development. “Because this is the city that raised me. This is the city that made me.” 

Peterson’s father, Porter Peterson, introduced his son at the event. He said Adrian Peterson was “our” son, referring to how the Alachua community had a hand in raising him. 

Adrian Peterson agreed with his father’s sentiments, saying the town was a good place for him to grow up, and community members raised him well to be successful. Yet he also turned the town’s strong community into a challenge. 

Peterson said part of the reason Alachua prepared him well for life was because community members took responsibility for him and actively poured into the town’s young people. He challenged today’s Alachua adults to do the same and mentor young people. 

“I’m going to hold you guys accountable,” Peterson said in his speech. “If you think you’re doing enough, do a little bit more.” 

Peterson also extended his challenge to the youth themselves, telling them to be their own leaders, or if they chose to follow, to find a leader like King, who sticks to a dream. 

Community members said the celebration was a good representation of King’s message of unity, but also that such unity should not be restricted to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Community member Tomy Byrd said society cannot heal until people have learned to exemplify the unity King stood for. 

“[Unity] should be something that we try to instill in our lives every day,” Tomy Byrd said. 

Dozie Sirmones agreed, saying the day should not only be about race, or about Martin Luther King Jr., but about unity for all people. Penny Sirmones said that while unity is important, the day also serves to honor and remember the reason unity is possible. 

“We are standing here today because of something someone else already did,” Penny Sirmones said. 

Alachua’s entire city commission was also in attendance, clapping and enjoying the performances. Commissioner Shirley Green Brown said Peterson is a former student of hers, so she especially enjoyed seeing him. She said she was pleased to see that, even when it began to rain people stayed. When the rain was gone, they wiped down the chairs and sat back down to keep celebrating. 

“Alachua is a very unique community,” Green Brown said in an interview. “We always look after each other, we always support each other, and we always find a way to reach out and bring others in.”